Languages Applicants for 2021 (and 2022) entry

[Tenpastseven]

For those interested and moving over from the St Andrews thread (that became not about St Andrews)

WOW! Amazing @fabtasticmrpox. No wonder she is cheered. Excuse my ignorance, but will the other Unis know her score/ take it into consideration too?

@Tenpastseven

WOW! Amazing *@fabtasticmrpox*. No wonder she is cheered. Excuse my ignorance, but will the other Unis know her score/ take it into consideration too?

I'm not sure, she has a certificate to print off .

I posted on another thread and then realised my concern is better housed here. It was a no from Cambridge on Monday. DS has bounced back (I feel a little tender still).

Anyhow, he went to an offer holders day at Bristol today. He feels enthused by the city but is worried about the ‘standing’ of the course. He’ll study French and Spanish with one more language ab initio. Bristol doesn’t come so high in the ‘rankings’ for languages it seems, and he said they were very keen to talk about being in the top 5 for Russian which threw him. He wants a challenging, rigorous and well regarded course (dare I say prestigious without making him come across as a bit of a knob?).

His other options are UCL, Southampton and Newcastle. He seems even less enthused about them 🙄🙄🙄. He disregarded many of the more ‘prestigious’ courses based on location - St A, Lancaster, Durham etc.

Sorry for the incoherence and possibly the repetition from earlier in the thread. I realise he’s made his bed etc etc, but any thoughts?

So sorry about Cambridge, I've been having similar thoughts re which uni. Dd picked hers rather hurriedly and refuses to engage in any online open days. She says they're all the same.
She discounted Durham because it wasn't offering her course, she has a good offer from Bristol but doesn't want to go there as half her 6 form will be there. She has her sights on Edinburgh but only because she loves the city and we have relatives there. Her teacher says she may well get rejected from there too.

I don't have anything useful to say sorry. I know how you feel re prestigious uni but the other thread was making me feel a bit like that and actually the unis she has chosen are fine.

It's useful to just hear your thoughts and where you are @fabtasticmrpox, so thank you for responding. I've made DS (and possibly myself too) sound a bit knobby I'm sure with the prestige comment, but I more mean that he wants somewhere that offers him an inspirational and challenging experience.

Edinburgh is such a pain because they offer so late. Why does her teacher say that?

@ Tenpastseven you don't sound knobby at all!

Her teacher felt they would give preference to Scottish students. I'm sure actually that's not the case - they prefer fee payers. He was maybe softening the blow though. Her GCSEs are not as impressive as some of the other oxbridge redirected students so maybe she's aiming a bit high 🤷‍♀️

I think Edinburgh is good for languages but every time I look on the uni rankings I get a different answer .

Once lockdown eases are you in a position to visit any of the uni towns? Or have a gap year ?

I think I did hear something about Scottish Universities giving preference to Scottish students.

Those rankings just totally confuse me.

DS is not interested in a gap year. He wants to do law afterwards and just feels like his life has been on hold for long enough. So many trips and experiences and just normal life cancelled.

Ithink I did hear something about Scottish Universities giving preference to Scottish students.

Not from the University of Edinburgh, though...

The Scottish Government places strict limits on the number of ‘Scotland and EU’ students that Scottish universities can admit. This means that Scottish universities are limited in the number of offers they can make to Scotland and EU applicants...
(Hence the reports of offers being made on the condition that the applicant is not classified as 'Home').
...There are no Scottish Government limits placed on the number of Rest of UK students (students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland), and Overseas (non-EU)’ students that Scottish universities can admit. This means that Scottish universities can make as many offers to rest of UK and overseas (non-EU) applicants as they have available places for.

www.ed.ac.uk/student-recruitment/admissions-advice/admissions-statistics

Sorry Tenpastseven , nothing to add re prestige of the courses. I think DD did take a look at some league table before she made her choices, but just like your son discounted Lancaster due to its location (she doesn't want to be on a campus university). I think Lancaster topped the table for languages.

However given that your DS wants to go on to a law degree, all the universities you've listed are pretty solid choices so they will stand him in good stead for any further post-grad/law conversion course.

DD has Manchester and St Andrews on her list, neither of which she visited It is difficult for this cohort to decide.

It really is so bloody hard for them to decide when they can’t visit.

DS is still firmly in the ‘Durham is the place for me’ but I’m still in the ‘but Bristol would be so much more of a rounded experience’.

I’ve asked him to promise me he won’t press the button till he has had chance to at least visit both cities. But who bloody knows when that will be.

So - to help me ‘get over myself’ does anyone know of anything that makes one potentially better for modern languages than the other? Would Bristol perhaps have better connections for year abroad / careers etc. ?
Ta

Goodness, Tottie, you couldn’t get much more different than St Andrew’s and Manchester for student experience!

Would I be able to join?
I've lurked on this thread a bit, thought i'd say hello.

I'm supporting my DN who is thinking we'll ahead about applying for languages in 2023. Either French and Spanish or possibly joint French and History or French and English.

We have started a little shortlist - she wants a quiet, campus type uni.
She is quiet and studious and a bit quirky, not a party animal.

So far we have York, Reading, Aberystwyth and Lancaster. Obviously we don't know at all about possible A level grades, she won't even be doing the gcse exams this year.
York might be a bit of stretch grade wise but maybe not.

Anyone have any thoughts on those, or ideas for similar campus unis that offer languages?

Best wishes to all your Dc receiving or awaiting offers at the moment, exciting times .

Would I be able to join?
I've lurked on this thread a bit, thought i'd say hello.

I'm supporting my DN who is thinking we'll ahead about applying for languages in 2023. Either French and Spanish or possibly joint French and History or French and English.

We have started a little shortlist - she wants a quiet, campus type uni.
She is quiet and studious and a bit quirky, not a party animal.

So far we have York, Reading, Aberystwyth and Lancaster. Obviously we don't know at all about possible A level grades, she won't even be doing the gcse exams this year.
York might be a bit of stretch grade wise but maybe not.

Anyone have any thoughts on those, or ideas for similar campus unis that offer languages?

Best wishes to all your Dc receiving or awaiting offers at the moment, exciting times .

Hi WhathappenedtotheLego,

DS is doing joint MFL/English at Manchester. I don't think that's the uni that would suit your quiet DD (though remember they do grow up...), but here are a few thoughts:

DS says that joint honours can be quite restricting for choice of module. By the time you've taking all the compulsory modules for both subjects, you may not have much left that doesn't clash.
Deadlines can also be uncoordinated.

He looked at Swansea - which was very friendly, and sounded utterly reassuring and supportive for the less outgoing student. The town centre was underwhelming, but the beach and views were great.

Cardiff also sounded good and had realistic offers. They offered him a place as a late applicant, and were very helpful.

I like Lancaster. Friends' children loved it. DS and DD really didn't and refused to apply. Their language courses are heavily biased towards language, not literature, as far as I remember.

York - again, a friend's very studious DD seems happy there!

How about Exeter?

Thanks Dithering Dan that is good to know about joint honours.

We will have a look at Exeter, I didn't realise it was a campus. That sounds good, as it is a smaller city. Maybe a bit far away though.

@Whathappenedtothelego - welcome to the thread :)

Your DN has plenty of time to research possible universities, and hopefully will be able to visit some in person before she applies. Lancaster sounds as if it might suit your DN well. It’s a campus university in very nice surroundings and is very highly ranked for languages. My dd has applied for MFL this year and Lancaster would definitely have been on her list, but didn’t offer the combination of languages she applied for. Exeter is also worth putting on the shortlist.

whathappened Exeter is a gorgeous campus and lovely city.

Exeter haven’t reduced their languages courses. They have expanded them quite a lot. You can take seven languages in various combinations; there are three languages options; combinations with English, History, Film, Drama etc or Flexible combined honours. And new programmes in Business and Languages or Languages and Communications.

Hi @Whathappenedtothelego and @adeleh and @DitheringDan :)

whathappened, also how about St. Andrews? DS considered there, but discounted due to it being too small primarily, though also it's distance from us. Another thought though, is it perhaps a bit early to make a call on whether she'd like a quiet campus? My experience is my own kids changed quite a lot at that age and until 18...

Just saw this thread! I have three lovely DCs who have all got/in the process of getting language degrees (we aren’t a very varied bunch ) One at Manchester, one at Warwick and one at Bristol. Would be very happy to answer any Qs anyone has got - they all have completely different personalities so have had v different experiences

I’m very jealous of you all - three kids going on year abroads was fantastic... so many excuses for visiting them in gorgeous countries and I wish I could do it all again!

Ha ha, you may be right @Tenpastseven, and she'll end up looking at big city party places!

I just looked at St Andrews on a map, I thought it was in the Highlands and on the north coast, but it's actually quite near Edinburgh (lucky we're not considering geography!)

I had friends at St Andrews doing languages in the late 90s, and they loved it, but I have never visited.

At Andrews is beautiful and there are some nice people in French. (I’m sure they’re nice in other languages too - it’s just I don’t know them . . . )

St Andrews I mean.

Dd received an offer (AAB) from St Andrews for MFL today, and is really chuffed - she‘s heard from all 5 of her UCAS choices now. Anyone else‘s dc received an offer from St A or Edinburgh?

DS1 is still waiting to hear from Durham and St Andrews for History and Russian. I wish they would hurry up!